Numbers may be framed by means of scores to an indefinite extent; but in actual practice, the numbers are rarely, if ever, met with. At the present day, the simpler Japanese method of numeration is rapidly supplanting the cumbrous native system.

In order to arrive at a clear comprehension of the Ainu system of counting, the student must carefully note the following two particulars:—

(a.)—The word ikashima commonly means, “excess,” “redundance;” but with the numerals it signifies, ”addition,” “to add to.” It is always placed after the number which is conceived of as added.

(b.)—The particle e signifies “to subtract,” “to take away from,” and follows the number which is supposed to be taken away. Care must therefore be taken not to confound the particle with the e which is used as a preposition, and which means, “to,” “towards.” Thus tu ikashima wa(n) is, “two added to ten,” i.e. 12; and shinepe-san ikashima, wan e, tu hot ne, is “nine added to, ten taken from, two score;” and so on.

Note also the following expressions:—E-tup, “one and a half;” e-rep, “two and a half;” e-inep, “three and a half.”

Shine ikashima, tu hot ne

41

Tu ikashima, tu hot ne

42

Re ikashima, tu hot ne

43

Ine ikashima, tu hot ne

44

Ashikne ikashima, tu hot ne

45

Iwan ikashima, tu hot ne

46

Arawan ikashima, tu hot ne

47

Tupe-san ikashima, tu hot ne

48

Shinepe-san ikashima, tu hot ne

49

Wan e, re hot ne

50

Shine ikashima, wan e, re hot ne

51

Tu ikashima, wan e, re hot ne

52

Re ikashima, wan e, re hot ne

53

Ine ikashima, wan e, re hot ne

54

Ashikne ikashima, wan e, re hot ne

55

Iwan ikashima, wan e, re hot ne

56

Arawan ikashima, wan e, re hot ne

57

Tupe-san ikashima, wan e, re hot ne

58

Shinepe-san ikashima, wan e, re hot ne

59

Re hot ne

60

Shine ikashima, re hot ne

61

Tu ikashima, re hot ne

62

Re ikashima, re hot ne

63

Ine ikashima, re hot ne

64

Ashikne ikashima, re hot ne

65

Iwan ikashima, re hot ne

66

Arawan ikashima, re hot ne

67

Tupe-san ikashima, re hot ne

68

Shinepe-san ikashima, re hot ne

69

Wan e, ine hot ne

70

Shine ikashima, wan e, ine hot ne

71

Tu ikashima, wan e, ine hot ne

72

Re ikashima, wan e, ine hot ne

73

Ine ikashima, wan e, ine hot ne

74

Ashikne ikashima, wan e, ine hot ne

75

Iwan ikashima, wan e, ine hot ne

76

Arawan ikashima, wan e, ine hot ne

77

Tupe-san ikashima, wan e, ine hot ne

78

Shinepe-san ikashima, wan e, ine hot ne

79

Ine hot ne

80

Shine ikashima, ine hot ne

81

Tu ikashima, ine hot ne

82

Re ikashima, ine hot ne

83

Ine ikashima, ine hot ne

84

Ashikne ikashima, ine hot ne

85

Iwan ikashima, ine hot ne

86

Arawan ikashima, ine hot ne

87

Tupe-san ikashima, ine hot ne

88

Shinepe-san ikashima, ine hot ne

89

Wan e, ashikne hot ne

90

Shine ikashima, wan e, ashikne hot ne

91

Tu ikashima, wan e, ashikne hot ne

92

Re ikashima, wan e, ashikne hot ne

93

Ine ikashima, wan e, ashikne hot ne

94

Ashikne ikashima, wan e, ashikne hot ne

95

Iwan ikashima, wan e, ashikne hot ne

96

Arawan ikashima, wan e, ashikne hot ne

97

Tupe-san ikashima, wan e, ashikne hot ne

98

Shinepe-san ikashima, wan e, ashikne hot ne

99

Ashikne hot ne

100

Shine ikashima, ashikne hot ne

101

Wan e, iwan hot ne

110

Shine ikashima, wan e, iwan hot ne

111

Iwan hot ne

120

Shine ikashima, iwan hot ne

121

Wan e, arawan hot ne

130

Shine ikashima, wan e, arawan hot ne

131

Arawan hot ne

140

Shine ikashima, arawan hot ne

141

Wan e, tupe-san hot ne

150

Shine ikashima, wan e, tupe-san hot ne

151

Tupe-san hot ne

160

Shine ikashima, tupe-san hot ne

161

Wan e, shinepe-san hot ne

170

Shine ikashima, wan e, shinepe-san hot ne

171

Shinepe-san hot ne

180

Shine ikashima, shinepe-san hot ne

181

Wan e, shine wan hot ne

190

Shine ikashima, wan e, shine wan hot ne

191

Shine wan hot ne

200

Ashikne hot ikashima, shine wan hot ne

300

Tu shine wan hot ne

400

Ashikne hot ikashima, tu shine wan hot ne

500

Re shine wan hot ne

600

Ashikne hot ikashima, re shine wan hot ne

700

Ine shine wan hot ne

800

Ashikne hot ikashima, ine shine wan hot ne

900

Ashikne shine wan hot ne

1,000

The radical form is always placed before the noun to which it refers; e.g.

The substantive form of the numeral is two-fold. For persons it is formed by adding niu, in some of the numbers abbreviated to the single consonant n. For things and animals it is formed by adding pe, be, or the letter p alone. Niu means “person,” and pe means “thing,” e.g.

Niu, “a person”

Shinen, one person.

Tun, two persons.

Ren, three persons.

Inen, four persons.

Ashikne niu, five persons.

Iwa niu, six persons.

Arawa niu, seven persons.

Tupe-san niu, eight persons.

Shinepe-san niu, nine persons.

Wa niu, ten persons.

Shinen ikashima wa niu, eleven persons.

Tun ikashima wa niu, twelve persons.

Hot ne niu, twenty persons.

Wa niu e tu hot ne niu, thirty persons.

Shinen ikashima wa niu e tu hot ne niu, thirty-one persons.

Ashikne hot ne niu, one hundred persons.

Pe, be, p, “thing.”

Shinep, one thing.

Tup, two things.

Rep, three things.

Inep, four things.

Ashiknep, five things.

Iwanbe, six things.

Arawanbe, seven things.

Tupe-sanbe, eight things.

Shinepe-sanbe, nine things.

Wanbe, ten things.

Shinep ikashima wanbe, eleven things.

Tup ikashima wanbe, twelve things.

Hot nep, twenty things.

Wanbe e tu hot nep, twenty-one things.

Shinep ikashima wanbe e tu hot nep, thirty-one things.

Ashikne hot nep, one hundred persons.

[N.B.—Note carefully the repetition of the noun after each numeral.]

With the numbers two and three, quadrupeds and sometimes even inanimate objects are counted with the word pish, e.g.

Seta shinep, one dog.

Seta tup pish, two dogs.

Seta rep pish, three dogs.

Seta inep, four dogs.

Niu, pe, and pish may be considered to correspond in some degree to the so-called “classifiers” or “auxiliary numerals” of Chinese, Japanese, and many other Eastern languages; but no further trace of such “classifiers” exists.

The radical form can never be used in answer to a question. In such a case one of the substantive forms must be employed.

Some nouns are excluded by their nature from both the above categories. The following are a few such words. Kamui “god or gods”; To, “a day;” Tokap “day;” Kunne “night,” “black.”

Kamui is counted as follows:—

Shine kamui, one god.

Tu kamui, two gods.

Re kamui, three gods.

Ine kamui, four gods.

Ashikne kamui, five gods.

Iwan kamui, six gods.

Arawan kamui, seven gods.

Tupe-san kamui, eight gods.

Shinepe-san kamui, nine gods.

Wan kamui, ten gods.

Shine kamui ikashima wan kamui, eleven gods.

Tu kamui ikashima wan kamui, twelve gods.

Hot ne kamui, twenty gods.

And so on.

To is counted as follows:—

Shine to, one day.

Tut ko, two days.

Rere ko, three days.

Ine rere ko, four days.

Ashikne rere ko, five days.

Iwan rere ko, six days.

Arawan rere ko, seven days.

Tupe-san rere ko, eight days.

Shinepe-san rere ko, nine days.

Wan to, ten days.

Shine to ikashima wan to, eleven days.

Tut ko ikashima wan to, twelve days.

Rere ko ikashima wan to, thirteen days.

Hot ne to, twenty days.

Wan to e tu hot ne to, thirty days.

Tu hot ne rere ko, forty days.

Wan to e re hot ne rere ko, fifty days.

Ashikne hot ne to, one hundred days.

Tokap is counted as follows:—

Tokap shine to, one day.

Tokap tut ko, two days.

Tokap rere ko, three days.

Tokap rere ko ine rere ko, four days.

Tokap rere ko ashikne rere ko, five days.

Tokap rere ko iwan rere ko, six days.

Tokap rere ko arawan rere ko, seven days.

Tokap rere ko tupe-san rere ko, eight days.

Tokap rere ko shinepe-san rere ko, nine days.

Wan to, ten days.

Tokap shine to ikashima wan to, eleven days.

Tokap tut ko ikashima wan to, twelve days.

Tokap rere ko ikashima wan to, thirteen days.

Tokap rere ko ine rere ko ikashima wan to, fourteen days.

Hot ne to, twenty days.

And so on.

Sometimes tokap is counted thus:—

Tokap to shine to, one day.

Tokap to rereko, three days.

Tokap to tutko, two days.

And so on.

Kunne is counted as follows:—

Shine anchikara, one night.

Tu anchikara, two nights.

Re anchikara (alsokunne rere ko), three nights.

Kunne rere ko ine rere ko, four nights.

Kunne rere ko ashikne rere ko, five nights.

Kunne rere ko iwan rere ko, six nights.

Kunne rere ko arawan rere ko, seven nights.

Kunne rere ko tupe-san rere ko, eight nights.

Kunne rere ko shinepe-san rere ko, nine nights.

Wan anchikara, ten nights.

And so on; i.e. adding kunne and kunne rere ko wherever tokap and tokap rere ko would be added to express “day.”

Sometimes kunne is counted thus:—

Kunne to shine anchikara.

One night.

Kunne to tu anchikara.

Two nights.

Kunne to re anchikara.

Three nights.

And so on.

§ III. THE ORDINAL FORM.

The ordinal numbers are expressed in two ways. The first is as follows:—

Shine ikinne, first.

Tu ikinne, second.

Re ikinne, third.

Ine ikinne, fourth.

Ashikne ikinne, fifth.

Iwan ikinne, sixth.

Arawan ikinne, seventh.

Tupe-san ikinne, eighth.

Shinepe-san ikinne, ninth.

Wan ikinne, tenth.

And so on; adding ikinne to the radical form wherever pe, be, or p would be placed for the substantive form.

The second way is as follows, but goes no higher than ten. Above ten the first method alone is in use:—

Shine otutanu, first.

Tu otutanu, second.

Iye e re ikinne, third.

Iye e ine ikinne, fourth.

Iye e ashikne ikinne, fifth.

Iye e iwan ikinne, sixth.

Iye e arawan ikinne, seventh.

Iye e tupe-san ikinne, eighth.

Iye e shinepe-san ikinne, ninth.

Iye wan ikinne, tenth.

The ordinals are rarely met with. When they are used, the noun is preceded by no an, e.g.

Shine ikinne no an ainu, the first man.

Shine tutanu no an chisei, the first house.

And so on.

§ IV. THE ADVERBIAL FORM.

The adverbial form of the numeral is formed by adding shui-ne to the radical, e.g.

Ara shui-ne, or a-shui-ne once.

Tu shui-ne, twice.

Re shui-ne, thrice.

Ine shui-ne, four times.

Ashikne shui-ne, five times.

Iwan shui-ne, six times.

Arawan shui-ne, seven times.

Tupe-san shui-ne, eight times.

Shinepe-san shui-ne, nine times.

Wa shui-ne, ten times.

And so on.

The word shui-ne is compounded from shui, “again” and ne, part of the verb “to be;” shui-ne would therefore mean, “to be again.”

§ V. MISCELLANEOUS.

The following miscellaneous expressions may be conveniently here noted.

Pairs of articles are expressed by the word uren, “both,” placed before the noun, e.g.:—